Rotational golf training aid

ABSTRACT

A hinged golf training club having a hinge that pivots rightwardly at a ninety degree angle relative to the reference plane  42  of zero degree clubhead  32.  This device corrects the two main faults shared by all prior patents in this genre. The first fault is that their hinges are constructed so that the fork and the tongue members have flat surfaces contacting each other. The second fault is that some hinge both forwardly and rearwardly. This training club provides a construction that has a rounded male member contacting a rounded longitudinal cavity. The club looks substantially like and acts substantially like a conventional golf club in every way except for hinge  28,  and allows the user to safely hit golf balls both on the range and on the course. This hinged training club  20  gives unmistakable positive feedback to the user both as how to use the hands, wrists and forearms in the golf swing to affect what has been popularly called ‘Ben Hogan&#39;s Secret Move,’ particularly during the transition of the golf swing. This invention will give the golfer unmistakable feedback as to whether they have executed the correct movement that Hogan explained in his 1955 Life magazine article.

I claim the benefit of provisional Application No. 60/938/665 filed May17, 2007. Reference: Life Magazine, Aug. 8 1955

BACKGROUND

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to golf training aids, specifically to a golfswing training aid. Moreover, this invention relates to a hingedpractice golf club that indicates to the golfer exactly how to use hishands, wrists and forearms in the golf swing to effect what has beenpopularly called ‘Ben Hogan's Secret Move.’ This invention will give thegolfer unmistakable feedback as to whether they have executed thecorrect movements in the golf swing that Ben Hogan explained in his Aug.8, 1955 Life magazine article.

Mr. Hogan described this move as “I cupped the wrist gradually backwardand inward on the backswing so that the wrist formed a slight V at thetop of the swing. The angle was not more than four or six degrees,almost invisible to the human eye. This simple maneuver, in addition tothe pronation, had the effect of opening the face of the club to thewidest possible extreme at the top of the swing. At this point the swinghad been made hook proof No matter how much wrist I put into thedownswing, no matter how hard I swung or how hard I tried to roll intoand through the ball, the face of the club could not close fast enoughto become absolutely square at the moment of impact. The result was thatlovely, long-fading ball which is a highly effective weapon on any golfcourse.”

2. Description

Through the years there have been many swing aids with a hinged designof the fork type being their main feature that either pivoted rearwardlyand forwardly or just rearwardly along the target line. Koch U.S. Pat.No. 4,854,585, Reineking U.S. Pat. No. 2,497,237, Lyford U.S. Pat. No.5,338,035, and others basically tried to keep the golf club on thecorrect swing plane through the use of their clubs and the hinge wouldpivot or breakdown if the club were to be taken back to fast and or offof the correct plane.

In all of these designs, the hinge is of a fork type; one hinge memberhas a pair of arms forming a fork, the other hinge member has a singlearm (or tongue) which is received within the fork, and a pivot pinpasses transversely through all three arms. All of these prior patentsshare one or two of the same main faults. The first fault is that theirhinges are constructed so that the fork and the tongue members have flatsurfaces contacting each other. The problem with this construction isthat there is too much friction between the flat surfaces to give thecorrect feedback to the golfer, especially at the transition of theswing from backswing to downswing, one of the most important parts ofthe swing.

The reason that there is too much friction with this construction isthat you cannot have any ‘wobble’ in the shaft as you swing it And this‘wobble’ would result if the flat surfaces weren't machined to a closetolerance. The second fault that some including Bryan U.S. Pat. No.5,277,427 share is that they hinge both ways, ninety degrees to the leftof the golfer at address and ninety degrees to the right. This hingingof the club to the left makes the golfer concentrate on and worry toomuch about his backswing and the speed at which he takes the club back.The speed at which the modern Tour Pro takes the club back wouldpreclude the use of this forwardly hinging aspect of the prior art.

To teach the ‘Hogan Secret’ correctly, the angle for the hinge must beonly set at a rearwardly 90 degree angle relative to the reference planeof the 0 degree clubhead, if it is to mirror and give exact, userunderstandable feedback as to the correct action of the hand, wrists andforearms in the Hogan golf swing. It also teaches the golfer how toachieve the correct swing plane as described in Hogan's book. If thishinge is to exactly mirror the wrists in the full Hogan swing, then itmust only not break down if you correctly perform the same movements asBen Hogan. If it breaks at any time in the swing, then the swing is notcorrectly on plane, nor would it be mimicking the swing described in the‘Hogan Secret.’

So, basically there have been no hinged golf training aids that onlypivoted at a backwardly 90 degree angle relative to the reference planeof the 0 degree clubhead, and that were constructed so that a roundedmember contacted a rounded longitudinal cavity. And furthermore, with aconstruction that you could actually hit balls without presenting asafety hazard to the user and onlookers, and further, that lookedexactly like and acted exactly like a conventional golf club in everyway except for the hinge. Also there have been no hinged golf trainingclubs that would give unmistakable positive feedback to the user both ashow to use the hands, wrists and forearms in the golf swing to effectwhat has been popularly called the “Ben Hogan Secret Move.’

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION

I came upon the use of this invention quite by accident, as I was usingthe hinge provided by my U.S. Pat. No. 6,558,267. It makes use of theconstruction of a hinge that pivots upwardly on the same plane as aclubhead with a 0 degree reference plane. In using it with one of ourtraining clubs, I turned it so that it was at a rearwardly 90 degreeangle to U.S. Pat. No. 6,558,267.

When I did this, I got a totally unexpected benefit. This constructionprovided a perfect way to check on the Ben Hogan Move. The key part ofthe equation here is at the transition of the golf swing. If thetransition is not in accordance with the Hogan precept, then the hingewill breakdown. If the golfer keeps the hinge from breaking at thetransition, then he is able to learn the Hogan move. It provided thisfeedback in a way that no prior hinged club with a flat fork type hingecould. Obviously the fact that it has a rounded male member contacted bya rounded longitudinal cavity in the female assembly contributed to thetotally different feel that this construction provides.

It is, therefore, the primary object of the present invention to providea method and apparatus for training a golfer to learn the dual elementsof correct forearm rotations and swing plane as exhibited by Ben Hoganand today's touring professionals at the same time; and as a corollaryto the foregoing object, providing a hinged practice club that isconfigured at the optimum 90 degree angle relative to the referenceplane of a 0 degree clubhead for correct reflection of the way agolfer's hands, wrists and forearms work in the ‘Hogan Secret,’ and alsoto provide the golfer with a new hinge design that will safely stand upto modern swing speeds. Another object is to provide a hinge device thatwill allow the golfer to take the club back at whatever speed theydesire. Our hinged golf training club will help the golfer to identifythe positions at the top of the backswing and the positions at therelease of the club that mimic those of the professional touring player.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a club with upper andlower shaft sections connected with a hinge that has a rounded malemember contacted by a rounded longitudinal cavity throughout the swing.

Another important object of the invention is to provide a club providedwith components similar to and weighted similar to a normal golf club,so that when the golfer goes back to his regular equipment, the feel ofhis training will actually transfer to play on the golf course.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a trainingclub that can be used anywhere with or without a golf ball and that canactually be taken out on the course and be used for playing shots ifdesired.

Another object of the present invention is to provide this hinge for allclubs in a golfer's bag and be used for playing all shots if desired.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a trainingclub that can be used anywhere with or without a golf ball.

Other objects will become apparent as the specification proceeds.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view from the back of the iron golf club,showing enough of the shaft to include the hinge device.

FIG. 2 shows the golfer addressing the golf ball with the training club.

FIG. 3 shows the golfer pronating his left hand and forearm andsupinating his right hand and forearm as the club is raised articuatelyaway from the ball. As the club is raised away from the ball, it rotates90 degrees and the club shaft stays straight, just like at address,provided the correct planar swing is carried out.

FIG. 4 shows the top of the swing, again on the correct plane, thegolfer's left arm essentially straight and somewhat parallel to theground. The shaft has rotated so that the hinged part keeps the shaftstraight and does not break.

FIG. 5 is a view showing the swing back to the ball from FIG. 4, goingthrough the reverse step of FIG. 3, where, if the swing plane ismaintained, the shaft rotating the opposite of the backswing rotation,FIG. 3, so that the ball strike can be made.

FIG. 6 is a view in which we have the exact opposite of FIG. 3occurring. That is, as the right hand and forearm pronate and the lefthand and forearm correctly supinate at the same time.

FIG. 7 is a view of the correct swing completed with the entire part ofthe club and the arms of the player in the circular plane described.

FIG. 8 is a rear view showing the pivotal connection, per se, seen atthe top of FIG. 1 with the back and lower portion of the club dependingdownwardly, just as seen in FIG. 1.

FIG. 9 is a frontal view showing the reverse side of FIG. 8 and showsthe recess in the opposite side of the coupling where the rear end ofthe lower pivotal part of the club can pass out through the collar thathas the roll pin, permitting the lower golf club portion to pivot.

FIG. 10 is a view taken from the golfer's side at address.

FIG. 11 is a view taken along the same lines as FIG. 10 showing how thehinge pivots rearwardly at a 90 degree angle.

FIG. 12 is a view from below showing the shaft, pivot and collar withthe lower portion of the golf club fully pivoted.

REFERENCED NUMERALS IN DRAWING

-   20 Hinged golf swing training device-   22 Elongated longer upper portion of shaft-   24 Elongated shorter lower portion of shaft-   26 Grip-   28 Hinge assembly-   30 Female hinge member-   32 Clubhead-   34 Roll pin-   36 Front face slot-   38 Back face slot-   40 Shaft cavity-   42 Reference plane-   44 Lower shaft receiving groove-   46 Male hinge member-   48 Roll pin bore-   50 Target line

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring initially to FIGS. 1-7, there is shown a golfer at address inFIG. 2 with the present invention, a hinged golf swing training club 20.It has the usual elongated upper 22 and lower 24 shaft sections,connecting at their confronting ends by a hinge assembly 28 having onedistinct hinge axes. The hinge assembly 28 pivots 90 degreesperpendicularly, relative to a reference plane 42 that is parallel to aclubhead 32 with a 0 degree plane.

At the end of the longer upper 22 end thereof, a grip 26 is provided. Afurther advantage of this construction is that the walls of the cavity40 are simultaneously strengthened by the presence of the thirdconnecting wall at the time of greatest stress which is impact with theball when the hinging assembly snaps back into the alignments in whichit was at address. With the prior art, there are only the two forkedopen-sides to absorb the stress and they could bend or break with theresult being dangerous conditions for the swinger and onlookers.

Practice with the training club 20 of the present invention isillustrated by the sequence of views of FIGS. 2-7. To get to the top ofthe backswing in FIG. 4, normally the golfer would have to think aboutkeeping his left arm straight and pronated, the right arm supinated andin flexion, with both wrists in radial flexion, the left wrist in palmarextension and the right wrist in extension. In order to arrive at theimpact position illustrated in FIG. 5, the golfer would have to thinkabout supinating the left arm and pronating the right arm so that theywould arrive with the left arm relatively straight and the right arm inflexion, with both wrists in radial flexion, the left wrist in palmarextension and the right wrist in extension. Instead of thinking aboutall of that, and since the hinge assembly 28 mirrors exactly what thegolfers wrists are doing, all the golfer has to do is swing the trainingclub 20 thru the positions shown in FIGS. 2 to 7 and if the hinge doesnot break then they have made the correct movements with their body andthe club.

The first checkpoint is at FIG. 3. To check if the golfer is in thecorrect position for this part of the swing, they would make sure thatwhen the upper 22 portion of the shaft of the club 20 becomes parallelwith the ground that it is also parallel to the target line 50 and thatthe handle of the shaft is generally over the toes of the right foot.Any breakdown of the hinge 28 would indicate that the golfer would haveto adjust his bodily movements to effect the correct position of theclub 20 in order to keep it from breaking down. The next checkpoint isat FIG. 4. The golfer should check that upper 22 portion of shaft andthe lower 24 portion of the shaft are parallel to the target line 50.When the golfer arrives at FIG. 5 the upper 22 and lower 24 sections ofthe shaft should have stayed in the same alignment as at address forimpact and then continue to FIG. 6 where the upper 22 and lower 24sections of the shaft would again be parallel to the ground and thetarget line 50.

At the finish, the golfer should check that the upper 22 portion of theshaft and that the lower 24 portion of the shaft are pointed at thetarget line 50. If the golfer deviates from these checkpoints, forexample, the position of the club 20 at FIG. 6 is not as prescribed,then he must adjust his bodily movements to effect the simplecorrections in order to get the swing onto the proper plane and correctrelease as exhibited by touring professionals.

Thus we can see that this training club 20 provides the golfer withunmistakable feedback, since it exactly mirrors the motion of his hands,wrists and forearms. Furthermore, this training club allows the golferto feel the correct transition in a way that no forked, flat device cando. In addition, the upper 22 and lower 24 sections of the shaft provideunmistakable feedback by the way they stay lined up in the variouscheckpoints of the swing. We can see further that this training club 20allows the golfer to feel the correct release of the golf training club20 through the ball with the additional feedback of being able toobserve ball flight after the swing. This will allow both inexperiencedand scratch golfers to improve their ball striking abilities.

It is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to thedisclosed embodiments but may also be expressed in other embodiments, byrearrangement, modification or substitution of parts or steps, withinthe spirit of the invention.

1. A golf training aid comprising: an upper shaft section having a grip;a lower shaft section having a clubhead having a reference plane; and aone-way hinge assembly comprising a female hinge member that is fixed tosaid upper shaft section and a rounded male hinge member that is fixedto said lower shaft section and that is pivotably connected to saidfemale hinge member; wherein said female hinge member comprises arounded longitudinal cavity within which said male hinge member pivotsabout a transverse axis, said transverse axis being parallel to thereference plane of a clubhead having a zero degree loft, said cavitybeing formed by two outer walls that are connected at their lower endsby a third wall, said third wall being operative to prevent pivoting ofthe male member by more than about 90 degrees.
 2. The golf training aidof claim 1 further comprising a roll pin about which male hinge memberpivots.
 3. The golf training aid of claim 1 wherein said clubhead isselected from the group consisting of: a putter head, an iron, a driver,and a training head.
 4. The golf training aid of claim 1 in which thehinge assembly is located at or near the center of gravity of the golftraining aid.
 5. A golf training aid comprising: an upper shaft sectionhaving a grip; a lower shaft section having a clubhead; and a hingeassembly comprising a female hinge member that is fixed to said uppershaft section and a rounded male hinge member that is fixed to saidlower shaft section and that is pivotably connected to said female hingemember; wherein said female hinge member comprises a roundedlongitudinal cavity within which said rounded male hinge member pivotsabout a transverse axis, said cavity being formed by two outer wallsthat are connected at their lower ends by a third wall and at theirupper ends by a fourth wall.
 6. The golf training aid of claim 5 whereinsaid hinge assembly is a one-way hinge assembly that constrains saidlower shaft section to pivot perpendicularly from a plane that isparallel to said transverse axis and that intersects said side thirdwall.
 7. The golf training aid of claim 5 wherein said third wall andsaid fourth wall are operative to prevent pivoting of the male member bymore than about 90 degrees to the right.
 8. The golf training aid ofclaim 5 in which the components of said training aid are configuredsimilarly to and weighted approximately the same as those of a normalgolf club.
 9. The golf training aid of claim 5 wherein said grip isselected from the group consisting of: a conventional grip, and atraining grip.
 10. The golf training aid of claim 5 in which said femalehinge member contains a shaft cavity for receiving the lower end of saidupper shaft portion.
 11. The golf training aid of claim 5 in which saidmale hinge member and said female hinge member contain bores that accepta roll pin
 12. The golf training aid of claim 5 wherein the lower end ofmale hinge member is configured to fit into the rounded hollow core ofsaid lower shaft section.
 13. The golf training aid of claim 5configured so that the longitudinal axes of upper shaft member and lowershaft member are aligned when a ball is addressed and when the ball isstruck during a proper golf swing.
 14. The golf training aid of claim 5wherein the longitudinal axis of said male hinge member and thelongitudinal axis of said female hinge member stay aligned during aproper swing.
 15. A method for training a golfer to execute a propergolf swing using a training aid comprising an upper shaft section havinga handle and a lower shaft section having a clubhead, said upper andlower shaft sections being joined by a one-way hinge assembly, saidmethod comprising: addressing the ball, at which time said upper shaftsection and said lower shaft section are in alignment; executing a firstpart of a backswing to a first checkpoint at which said upper shaftsection is parallel to the ground and parallel to a line to the target,said handle is generally over the toes of the right foot, and said lowershaft section stays in the same alignment it was in at address;continuing the backswing to a second checkpoint at which both the upperend of said upper shaft section and said lower end of lower shaftsection have stayed at the same alignment as they were at address;executing a first part of a forward swing to a third checkpoint atimpact with the ball in which said upper shaft section and said lowershaft section are in alignment; continuing the forward swing to a fourthcheckpoint at which said upper shaft section is parallel to the groundand the target line, said handle is generally over the toes of the leftfoot, said lower shaft section has stayed in the same alignment withsaid upper shaft section as they were at address; and continuing theforward swing to a fifth checkpoint at which the upper end of said uppershaft section and said lower shaft section have stayed in the samealignment as they were at address.